ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is planning to visit Congo and South Sudan in July, the Vatican announced Thursday, fulfilling a wish to minister to the faithful in the conflict-ridden countries.
Francis is scheduled to visit the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, and the city of Goma on July 2-5, and plans to be in Juba, South Sudan, on July 5-7, the Vatican said.
The trip would be one of Francis’ longest in years and his third to sub-Saharan Africa. He visited Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic in 2015 and Mozambique, Mauritius and Madagascar in 2019. Francis also visited Egypt in 2017.